Welcome to Smuggle Me

I’ve been finding that while I love blogs I think that I love forums even more. I think the reason I like forums is that there are multiple people that participate in a discussion. A blog sometimes reaches that point, but on a forum it really creates a nice collaboration between people.

Today I came across a nice sat nav and gps forum. It’s a simple and straightforward forum with lots of activity. A number of the threads are unique to the UK, but there is a lot of good information available for those looking into sat nav and gps. I should give one warning that the forum is very technical. If you don’t enjoy a lot of the technical details of this technology then you might not enjoy the forum as much. I’m a nerd so it’s a great forum.

Wow, a new Trojan was created that is able to defeat an OnScreen keyboard. People are so creative.

Today we will analyze a new banking trojan that is a qualitative step forward in the dangerousness of these specimens and a new turn of the screw in the techniques used to defeat virtual keyboards. The novelty of this trojan lies in its capacity to generate a video clip that stores all the activity onscreen while the user is authenticating to access his electronic bank.

The video clip covers only a small portion of the screen, using as reference the cursor, but it is large enough so that the attacker can watch the legitimate user’s movements and typing when using the virtual keyboard, so that he gets the username and password without going into further trouble.

Luckily I haven’t seen too many OnScreen keyboards out there. My bank is using a 2 factor authentication which is more secure in my opinion. As long as you remember the 2 factors.

I’ve been really amazed at the cost of development tools these days. Companies like IBM, BEA, Exadel are all charging thousands of dollars for their tools. I think most people don’t know any alternative and so they just pay for it.

Well, there are alternatives out there. One example is the product offering from MyEclipse. They have AJAX Tools, Swing UI, Visual Web Designers, Application server connectors, and more. Plus, they only charge you $29.95 for all that software. The best part is that it is available for immediate download so you don’t have to wait to get the product either.

I had been looking for a good AJAX Tool and this looks like it has everything you could ever need for coding. Here’s just a few examples of the features available in the AJAX tool:

* Editor
o
Web 2.0 Browser with source code view
o
Syntax highlighting
o
Integrated outline and property views
o
Validation and syntax checking
o
Code assist for common JavaScript elements, functions, and variables
o
Code assist documentation for functions
o
Source formatting
o
Toggle comments
* Debugger
o
Instant-on JavaScript Debugger
o Debug any web page containing JavaScript source or included JavaScript files, or standalone JavaScript files
o Operations: Pause, Resume, Step Into, Step Over, Step to Return, Terminate
o Views:
+ Web Browser View
+ Call Stack View
+ Variables View
+ Console View
o Set JavaScript breakpoints in:
+ JavaScript files
+ HTML with embedded JavaScript and linked JavaScript files
+ JSP files
o Integrates with Eclipse Launch Manager
+ Quick launch from context-menu using ‘Debug As’
+ Launch from Eclipse Debug toolbar action
+ Use Launch Profile to modify launch configuration
+ Launch JavaScript resource from project location or deployed MyEclipse web-application

That’s what I call a good deal!

Scoble has been getting the blogging community a chastisement for not covering the Adobe Acrobat 8 release.

He also pointed to a video of Adobe Acrobat 8. I’m not a pro in this area, but I think I know why most people don’t care about Adobe Acrobat 8. Most people that know about it and would want to use it aren’t bloggers.

I think the majority of bloggers fall into 2 types:
1. Tech Freaks
2. Moms

The first group is tech freaks because they are people who live and love technology. You know who you are. People who read Digg. Yes, that’s you. That’s me too. If you fit into this class of blogger then you don’t care about Adobe Acrobat? Why? Because you stopped using a long time ago when they built in so much CRAP that you couldn’t stand waiting for it to open. Instead you’re using something like Foxit that is a a very small file that opens Super FAST. If you’re not doing this then you are making a mistake and need to repent.

The second group I call the Moms. This group is not all moms, but it is dominated by moms. These people blog because they need a place to put out information. They are tired of being at home with their kids and need a place to interact and communicate with adults. Not to mention a place to complain, moan, and brag about their children. There’s no need to explain why this group doesn’t care about Adobe Acrobat 8. If you told them about it they might invite their kids over to watch the circus performers.

No one cares about Adobe Acrobat 8. This reminds me of when I saw Adobe at a conference. Their booth was completely useless. What products do they tell me about? I think they gave me a nice pen. I guess I’ll give them that much credit.

I am working out the details to attend a conference called Educause in Dallas next month and I’m sad that they really haven’t embraced technology like they should. I really just wish that they would make a Map Mashup of the Dallas area and especially the hotels. This conference is enormous and so it has at least 8-10 different hotels as conference hotels. Why a technology conference can’t create a map mashup is beyond me. It would make Hotel Selection much easier and they could even add on other important locations like the Dallas Convention Center. That might be good to know.

So, all you Convention and Vistors Bureau (CVB), chamber of commerce, travel, tourism, hospitality, hotel, vacation rentals or any other sort of travel opportunity needs to make a Map Mashup before I start going insane. They’ve gotten so much easier to create now that no one has an excuse. Especially not a technology conference.

I think that the list of TV’s Season Premiers is so valuable I want to post it for all my blog readers. I found the list of TV Season Premiers on the really fantastic So You Think You Can Dance website. What surprises me most is how many different TV shows there are. It is also amazing to me how many new TV shows are on the list and premiering on TV.

A quick look at the list seems like a couple TV shows are missing from the premier list too. Which TV show premiers do you want to see?

Monday, Aug. 21
8 pm Prison Break (Fox)
9 pm Vanished (Fox)

Wednesday, Aug. 30
8 pm Bones (Fox)
9 pm Justice (Fox)

Tuesday, Sept. 5
8 pm Standoff (Fox)
9 pm House (Fox)

Thursday, Sept. 7
8 pm ‘Til Death (Fox)
8:30 pm Happy Hour (Fox)

Sunday, Sept. 10
8 pm The Simpsons (Fox)
8:30 pm American Dad (Fox)
9 pm Family Guy (Fox)
9:30 pm The War at Home (Fox)

Tuesday, Sept. 12
8 pm Dancing With the Stars (ABC)

Thursday, Sept. 14
8 pm Survivor: Cook Islands (CBS)

Sunday, Sept. 17
8:30 pm The Amazing Race 10 (CBS)

Monday, Sept. 18
8 pm The Class (CBS)
8:30 pm How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
9 pm Two And A Half Men (CBS)
9:30 pm The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
10 pm CSI: Miami (CBS)

Tuesday, Sept. 19
8 pm NCIS (CBS)
9 pm Law & Order CI (NBC)
9 pm The Unit (CBS)
10 pm Smith (CBS)
10 pm Law & Order SVU (NBC)

Wednesday, Sept. 20
8 pm Jericho (CBS)
8 pm America’s Next Top Model (CW)
9 pm Criminal Minds (CBS)
10 pm Kidnapped (NBC)
10 pm CSI: NY (CBS)

Thursday, Sept. 21
8 pm My Name Is Earl (NBC)
8:30 pm The Office (NBC)
9 pm Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
10 pm Six Degrees (ABC)
9 pm CSI (CBS)
10 pm Shark (CBS)
10 pm ER (NBC)

Friday, Sept. 22
8 pm Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
9 pm Close To Home (CBS)
9 pm Men In Trees (ABC)
10 pm Numb3rs (CBS)
10 pm Law & Order (NBC)

Sunday, Sept. 24
7 pm Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC)
9 pm Desperate Housewives (ABC)
9 pm Cold Case (CBS)
10 pm Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
10 pm Without a Trace (CBS)

Monday, Sept. 25
8 pm 7th Heaven (CW)
9 pm Runaway (CW)
9 pm Heroes (NBC)

Tuesday, Sept. 26
8 pm Gilmore Girls (CW)
9:30 pm Help Me Help You (ABC)
10 pm Boston Legal (ABC)

Wednesday, Sept. 27
9 pm One Tree Hill (CW)

Thursday, Sept. 28
8 pm Ugly Betty (ABC)
8 pm Smallville (CW)
9 pm Supernatural (CW)

Sunday, Oct. 1
7 pm Everybody Hate’s Chris (CW)
7:30 pm All of Us (CW)
8 pm Girlfriends (CW)
8:30 pm The Game (CW)

Monday, Oct. 2
The Bachelor: Rome (ABC)

Tuesday, Oct. 3
8 pm Friday Night Lights (NBC)
9 pm Veronica Mars (CW)

Wednesday, Oct. 4
8 pm 20 Good Years (NBC)
9 pm Lost (ABC)
10 pm The Nine (ABC)

Thursday, Oct. 5
8 pm Big Day (ABC)
8:30 pm Notes From The Underbelly (ABC)

Monday, Oct. 9
10 pm What About Brian (ABC)

Wednesday, Oct. 11
8:30 pm 30 Rock (NBC)

Tuesday, Oct. 17
9 pm The Knights of Prosperity (ABC)

Friday, Oct. 20
8 pm Crossing Jordan (NBC)
9 pm Las Vegas (NBC)

Thursday, Nov. 2
9 pm The OC (Fox)

Wednesday, Nov. 15
9 pm Day Break (ABC)

What a list of TV shows. What a big business TV has become. This is just the major networks too. Amazing.

The wonderful and beautiful Estelle Reyna has taken the country of Panama and made it something special. Estelle has a special connection with panama. She’s said that Playa Bonita and the “Gamboa Rainforest Resort” are some of her favorite places to stay when visiting the country. I especially recommend checking out the video of Estelle at the grand opening of the Playa Bonita.

Estelle has the time of her life at the Grand Opening of the Playa Bonita Resort, the new “Bern Hotel” in Panama

Estelle’s work in Panama has helped over 300 million people around the world to find the beautiful country of Panama. If you watch the video of Playa Bonita you can kind of see that they guy she’s interviewing almost seems nervous around her. Sure, she’s an attractive lady, but even more so she’s a celebrity. In fact, her shows have a huge impact on travel. Her television shows airs on over 800 television stations around the world, her web site greets more than 100,000 unique visitors per day coming from over 150 countries and she has more than 100,000 podcast subscribers. No wonder the guy was nervous.

Estelle interviews Ruben Blades, Panama Minister of Tourism and former music and movie star.

I lived in Hawaii, but honestly from the looks of it, Panama must be the ultimate vacation destination. I love that it has the beaches, the play, the beauty, the culture and the history which all contribute to an amazing vacation spot. Estelle, if you are listening…how about you take me along with you as a guest host? We could sit on the beach. Try some surfing. Check out the rainforest. Shop in the markets. Enjoy the spa. Check out the Panama canal. Dance the night away. Eat delicious food.

Sounds like heaven to me. From the looks of it, it might just be.

One of the many fantastic views visitors can enjoy from the Gamoboa Rainforest Resort.

I found a really great tribute video of Benji Schwimmer. It’s amazing how people are still addicted to him. I have a feeling it might not end until the So You Think You Can Dance Tour ends. Even then, they’ll probably bring him back on next years show.

Enjoy!!

There has been a lot of discussion on the Unofficial PayPerPost forum that I just recently started about what people have made doing PayPerPost vs. Google Adsense.

As you can see from my blog, I have a fair amount of experience with both PayPerPost and Adsense. I must admit that I have made more money doing Google Adsense ($200 per month), but I have been doing it longer. In the same time frame that I’ve been doing PayPerPost I’ve made more money ($1016.13 as of today). In fact, I think for most bloggers PayPerPost will certainly earn you more money than doing Google Adsense.

However, there is a major difference between Google Adsense and PayPerPost. If you stop blogging, PayPerPost stops paying you. It requires time to be spend to keep making money. However, I could stop blogging today and still make money from Google Adsense. So, I don’t think that Google Adsense is dead by any means, but add it to PayPerPost and you have a good method of money making.

However, it is important to remember that blogging isn’t just about how you make money. It’s also about enjoying the relationships with the people you meet in the blogosphere.

This is an oldie, but a goodie. For those people wanting to learn to optimize their website or blog to be seen in search engines, you need to check out the keywork search tool by overture. You put in a few keywords and then you’ll see how many times that keyword and related keywords are searched.

One other secret I’ll tell you is that just because it has 1 million searches doesn’t mean it’s the best keyword for the site. Mortgage is searched a lot on the internet. However, if you can get to the top of Google for the keywork mortgage then you don’t need to be reading my blog. For most people you want to find a keyword that is searched enough to get you traffic, but not so much that the web is saturated with websites on the subject.